Pick Me English as a Second Language Podcast (With Transcripts)

#ESL Podcast 232 – Business Bookkeeping ##GLOSSARY **on the side –** extra; in addition to one’s regular job *Janice works as a science teacher at the high school, but she offers private classes for younger students on the side to make extra money. **accounting –** the study or job of keeping correct records of money spent and received by a business or organization *Kareem is detail-oriented and he’s very good at math. Has he considered a career in accounting? **bookkeeping –**...

#ESL Podcast 231 – The Supermarket Checkout ##GLOSSARY **cashier –** a store employee who takes the money for things that a customer buys and provides a receipt *The cashier said he couldn’t help me with the clothes I wanted to buy because he works only in the shoe department. **lane –** a narrow (small and long) area in a grocery store where shoppers stand in a line to wait for a cashier to help them make their purchases *I wanted to use the express lane at the grocery store, but in...

#ESL Podcast 233 – Asking for a Date ##GLOSSARY **to admit –** to say that something is true even if one doesn’t want to; to confess *Last week, one of the football player on the championship team admitted that he had used illegal drugs to build stronger muscles. **player –** a man who dates a lot of women, often at the same time *Those guys are such players! They hang out in bars nearly every weekend trying to get women’s phone numbers. **attractive –** pretty; nice-looking *Renee...

#ESL Podcast 230 – A New Year’s Cruise ##GLOSSARY **New Year’s Eve –** the holiday celebrated on December 31; the night before the New Year (January 1) *Normally their children go to bed early, but on New Year’s Eve they’re allowed to stay up until midnight. **harbor –** an area of ocean water near the land that has strong walls to protect boats from bad weather *The storm destroyed the boats that were on the ocean, but the boats in the harbor weren’t damaged at all. **cruise –** a...

#ESL Podcast 229 – Irritating Co-Workers ##GLOSSARY **to get on (someone’s) nerves –** to annoy someone; to irritate someone *I love my sister, but we really get on each other’s nerves sometimes. **cut that out! –** a rude (not polite) expression meaning *“Stop that!”* or “Stop doing what you’re doing!” *Can you please cut that out? I can’t talk on the phone while you’re making so much noise! **to drive (someone) crazy –** to annoy someone; to irritate someone *Josephina’s mother...

#ESL Podcast 228 – A Christmas Feast ##GLOSSARY **the more, the merrier –** the more people there are, the more fun something will be *Lydia asked if she could bring her cousins to the party, and I said, “Of course! The more, the merrier!” **thrilled –** delighted; very happy *Magdalene was thrilled to learn that she had been accepted at Boondocks University. **fruitcake –** a traditional Christmas cake that contains small pieces of dried fruit *Ashley doesn’t like raisins, so he...

#ESL Podcast 227 – Describing Symptoms to a Doctor ##GLOSSARY **stomachache –** a pain in the stomach *Jenny has a stomachache because she ate too much junk food this afternoon. **to come and go –** to appear and disappear; to arrive and leave *Ella is tired because she was coming and going all day yesterday, between her house, her work, the school, and store. **heartburn –** a burning pain in the chest, usually caused by something you ate *Whenever Dad eats pizza, he gets a bad case...

#ESL Podcast 226 – Holiday Decorating ##GLOSSARY **to decorate –** to make something more attractive by putting objects on it *The students are going to decorate the high school gym so that it looks like a dance club for their dance on Friday night. **to go all out –** to put all of one’s energy and effort into doing something *She went all out during the race and finished in first place. **Christmas tree –** a pine tree (or a plastic tree) that people decorate and place in their...

#ESL Podcast 225 – Feeling Homesick ##GLOSSARY **long face –** an expression of sadness on someone’s face; the look on a person’s face when they are unhappy *He had such a long face when he got home from work that we immediately knew something was wrong. **homesick –** sad to be away from family, friends, and home; missing or longing to be home *Whenever Alexander looks at pictures of his family, he becomes homesick. **adjustment –** adaptation; change to fit into a new environment...

#ESL Podcast 224 – Holiday Promotions ##GLOSSARY **to come up with (something) –** to think of something, usually a new idea or a solution to a problem *How did you come up with that idea? I’ve never heard anything like it before. **holiday promotion –** activities to increase sales during the holiday season, usually in November and December *The store’s holiday promotions are incredible! They sell everything at 30% off of its regular price. **inroad –** progress;...

#ESL Podcast 223 – A Mistake in the Hotel Bill ##GLOSSARY **bill –** a list of costs that need to be paid *Why hasn’t the waiter brought us our bill yet? We finished eating twenty minutes ago. **stay –** the amount of time spent somewhere; a visit *I enjoyed my weekend stay with my good friends in San Diego. **incidentals –** extra costs not included in the basic cost of the hotel room *If she had known how expensive the incidentals were, she wouldn’t have ordered room...

#ESL Podcast 222 – Alternative Medicine ##GLOSSARY **to be prescribed –** to have something, usually medicine, recommended in writing by a doctor to treat pain or an illness *The doctor told her that she should never take medicine that was prescribed for someone else. **lasting –** permanent; continuing for a long time *Living in another country has a lasting impact. It often makes people more respectful of cultural differences and more interested in world news. **alternative...

#ESL Podcast 221 – Long-distance Relationships ##GLOSSARY **bicoastal –** in two different places near the ocean, usually very far from each other on the opposite sides of a large area of land *Major magazines like Time and Newsweek have bicoastal offices, usually in New York and California. **long-distance relationship –** two people in a romantic relationship or dating while living far away from each other *One of the downsides to a long-distance relationship is the expensive...

#ESL Podcast 220 – Giving Opinions in a Meeting ##GLOSSARY **feedback –** thoughts and opinions given in reaction to an idea or thing *The presenter asked them to complete the evaluation forms so that he could use their feedback to improve his future presentations. **to get something across –** to make an idea understandable or acceptable *I think I have found a great solution to the problem, but my boss never listens to me. How can I get my idea across to him? **colleague –**...

#ESL Podcast 219 – Giving Compliments ##GLOSSARY **to ask (someone) over –** to invite someone to your home or to the place where you are *Benjy asked Julia over to his place to see the changes he made to his house. **to be more than friends –** to date; to be romantically involved *She told Christopher that they couldn’t be more than friends because she already had a boyfriend. **compliment –** praise; a nice thing said about a person or a thing that is meant to make the other...

#ESL Podcast 218 – Getting a Driver’s License ##GLOSSARY **driver's manual –** a handbook of rules and laws that tells drivers what they can and cannot do while driving on public roads *All of the answers to questions on written driver’s test can be found in a driver’s manual. **traffic laws –** rules made by the government about what drivers can and cannot do while driving on public roads *Not following traffic laws is a sure way to get a ticket from the police. **with flying...

#ESL Podcast 217 – Lost and Found ##GLOSSARY **Lost and Found –** a place that holds lost items for people until they come to find them *I left my glasses at the theater last night, and I’m hoping someone turned them in to the Lost and Found. **to claim –** to say an item belongs to you *Everyone is waiting to see who will claim the $20 million lottery prize! **claim form –** a form that someone completes to say that an item that was found belongs to him or her *Before we can allow...

#ESL Podcast 216 – Outsourcing Operations ##GLOSSARY **overhead –** the money a company spends to run its business *Moving to a bigger office building will mean an increase in the company’s overhead for upcoming years. **to outsource –** to have company business done by people outside of the company; to pay someone else to do part of the company’s work *Many companies outsource for services that they need only once in a while. **pros and cons –** reasons for and against something;...

#ESL Podcast 215 – Getting a Men's Haircut ##GLOSSARY **barbershop –** a place where men get their hair cut *I'm taking my brother to the barbershop tomorrow to get his hair cut before school starts on Monday. **hair salon –** a place where men and women get their hair cut *When I was little, I didn’t like going to the hair salon with my mother because it smelled of chemicals and hair spray. **curly –** not straight; wavy; hair that curls *He has curly hair and has to keep it short...

#ESL Podcast 214 – A Jealous Girlfriend ##GLOSSARY **to hang out –** to spend free time with others *Mary wanted to go to the movies with Josh, but he was already hanging out with Kim that afternoon. **jealous –** wanting something or someone that belongs to another person *After getting a short haircut, Lisa couldn't help but be jealous of other women with long hair. **to avoid –** to stay away from someone or something; to stop oneself from doing something *Kelly knew that...